Method for forming an air bearing surface on a slider
View Patent ↗Embodiments include a slider having a silicon body and at least one carbide pad structure embedded therein. At least one head structure for reading and/or writing data is located on the silicon body. The silicon body includes an air bearing surface on which the head is located. The air bearing surface also includes at least a portion of the carbide pad structure thereon. In one aspect, the metal carbide structure may be made from a material such as titanium carbide, zirconium carbide, vanadium carbide, tungsten carbide, or molybdenum carbide. In another aspect, the head may be located on the air bearing surface between carbide pad structures.
1. A method for forming an air bearing surface on a slider, comprising:
providing a silicon slider body;
forming at least one trench in a surface of the silicon body; and
forming a carbide structure in the at least one trench;
wherein the carbide structure is formed by a process comprising:
filling the trench in the silicon slider body so that with a metal carbide and anhydrous metal chloride material;
heating the silicon slider body so that the metal carbide and anhydrous metal chloride material becomes a melt;
after the heating the silicon slider body, cooling the silicon slider body to produce a product material from the melt; and
removing the chloride material formed from the product material.
2. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising, after the heating the silicon slider body so that the metal carbide and anhydrous metal chloride material becomes a melt, annealing the silicon slider body for a predetermined time period.
3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the removing chloride material comprises rinsing the surface of the material with at least one liquid selected from the group consisting of water and methanol to remove the chloride material.
4. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising planarizing the carbide using a method selected from the group consisting of etching and polishing.
5. The method as in claim 4 , further comprising etching the silicon slider body so that the carbide extends outward from the etched silicon slider body.
6. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the heating the silicon slider body comprises heating the metal carbide and the anhydrous metal chloride material to a temperature of at least 450° C.
7. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising forming a layer comprising titanium in the trench prior to the filling trench in silicon slider body with the metal carbide and the anhydrous metal chloride material.
8. A method for forming an air bearing surface on a slider, comprising:
proving a silicon slider body comprising single crystal silicon;
forming at least one trench in a surface of the silicon slider body; and
forming a structure selected from the group consisting of a carbide structure and a nitride structure in the at least one trench; and
forming the structure to extend to a position above the surface of the silicon slider body adjacent to the trench;
wherein the structure comprises the carbide structure; and
wherein the carbide structure is formed by a process comprising:
positioning a metal carbide and an anhydrous metal chloride in the trench;
forming a melt in the trench by heating the metal carbide and the anhydrous metal chloride material.
after the heating, cooling the melt to yield a cooled product material; and
removing the chloride material from the cooled product material.
9. The method as in claim 8 , wherein the removing chloride material comprises rinsing the surface of the cooled product material with at least one liquid selected from the group consisting of water and methanol.
10. The method as in claim 8 , wherein the heating comprises heating the metal carbide and the anhydrous metal chloride material to a temperature of at least 450° C.
11. The method as in claim 8 , further comprising forming a layer comprising titanium in the trench prior to the positioning the metal carbide and the anhydrous metal chloride material in the trench.